Can nuclear power be replaced? Some smart folks have came to creative ways to product alternative energy that can satisfy our power needs for the future as we run out of nuclear energy.

5. Solar Power Satellites

How it works: The concept is about a satellite built into the High Earth Orbit that uses microwave power transmission to beam solar power to a very large antenna on Earth.

Advantages: The satellite will have access to the sun all the time, 24/7.

Disadvantages: It is very costly. The only way to eliminate this is to find reusable materials on Earth which could be used for building the satellite. NASA and other agencies around the world have worked together and still need to come to a conclusion if this is a potential powerful source that could someday even replace nuclear power.

4. Geothermal power

How it works: This is one of the best nuclear power alternatives currently available. Geothermal poweris basically an energy generated by heat stored in the earth, or the collection of absorbed heat derived from underground, in the atmosphere and oceans.

Advantages: It requires no purchase of fuel. The energy is stored in the earth (so no need for people power and their fitness.) Also, there’s very little emissions. That means from ecological point of view, geothermal power is a lot better than the current, nuclear power.

Disadvantages: There are several disadvantages of geothermal energy. One of the biggest concerns is that some specific locations i.e. sources of geothermal power may cool down over time resulting in depletion.

3. Wind power

How it works: I’m sure you have already heard about wind energy and its potential. Large wind farms are connected to electrical grids thus producing electrical energy that can be used for different purposes.

Advantages: Wind power is easily renewable and cannot be easily diminished. Many countries started using it widely. In Denmark, 19% of electricity usage is from wind energy. In Spain in Portugal, the percentage is 9% while Germany accounts for 6% usage.

Disadvantages: Animal impact. Wind turbines have a negative impact on birds, which can be killed or injured through collision with the rotating blades especially while seasonal bird migration. To reduce this impact, most wind turbines are built outside of bird migration corridors.

2. Solar Power

How it works: See those objects above? They basically “steal” sun’s energy which later converts into electrical power. Solar energy is becoming one of the dominant alternative sources of energy lately.

Advantages: The sun is unlikely to stop emitting energy soon. New dish engine systems like the one above are built every day all around the world. We should expect even bigger expansion of this type of renewable energy in the future.

Disadvantages: The systems are very costly to built. Also, they are useful only when the sun is shining. In the night, they are practically useless. Lately the effects of this disadvantage are reduced by the use of solar battery chargers.

1. Biomass

How it works: Dead biological material can be used as fuel or for industrial production. Also, biomass can refer to plant matter grown to generate electricity or produce biofuel.

Advantages: The industrial type of biomass can be grown from numerous types of plants and trees. This number of plants increases ever day so you can suppose that biomass as renewable source of energy and its usage will continue to grow in the future.

Disadvantages: Biomass is part of the carbon cycle. That means that using biomass methods produce a large portion of Carbon Dioxide or CO2. You can suppose that biomass is one of the many factors that contribute to the global warming.

Do you think there’s another alternative source of energy that’s worth mentioning but is not mentioned here? If you do, feel free to comment in the comments section below.

A very well-presented and well-researched article. Though I believe there’s no such thing as a perfect technology, these renewable sources of energy are the means to stop or at least slow down global warming trends.

barneslow Says...

On October 22, 2008 at 1:25 pm

very well produced article. Hope to see more of the same in the future. I personally agree to advance any further as a society we must tackle the energy crisis looming on the horizon.

david irvine Says...

On October 22, 2008 at 2:23 pm

Loving this article, well thought out. well done.

Fred Frasca Says...

On October 22, 2008 at 3:42 pm

What about wave generators. Devices that harness the oceans movements.

lopezsx07 Says...

On October 22, 2008 at 3:45 pm

I agree with many of these, but what about Hydrogen? it’s abundant, it’s renewable, and its only by-product is water!

Mr. Graves Says...

On October 22, 2008 at 3:57 pm

why no nuclear? Also, the geothermal idea is definitely one of the best ideas for alternative energy there is. As for hydrogen, it takes a lot of energy to split hydrogen from oxygen, making it near useless.

Mr Graves, hydrogen may become a reasonable source of power if the new invention by Daniel Nocera of MIT becomes commercially viable. It can use solor collectors to separate hydrogen and oxygen at room temperature and with mostly cheap materials. The energy from hydrogen fuel cells would be usable at small and larger sizes, for houses, cars, and industry.

Faranya Says...

On October 22, 2008 at 4:14 pm

Nuclear people, nuclear! It’s plentiful, powerful, and perfectly safe. Get writing letters, I want to see a nuclear plant in my back yard!

Tony Says...

On October 22, 2008 at 4:14 pm

Erm, fusion?

Fahad Tanweer Says...

On October 22, 2008 at 4:23 pm

The energy of the future is fusion. There is no denial amongst scientists that fusion is feasible. However, due to the decisions made by American leaders, U.S. has currently stopped major funding towards research due to the rising costs of the war in Iraq. There is irony in that we have sacrificed a practically limitless source of energy for oil which will run out most definitely by the 2040’s

wigan warp Says...

On October 22, 2008 at 4:26 pm

Great list my eye, a 5 year old could of cobbled this together and it’s fairly out of date although I’m no expert.

What about hydro power, such as tidal dams that work with tides, as the tides rise a resivuar is filled and as the tide falls the water flows out through holes in the bottom of the dam that turns a turbine and that creates free electrical energy, every day, no matter sun shine or not, and causes no pollution. Free clean and clear energy. And wave generators, generators that sit at the top of the ocean water and as waves move them it creates electrical energy.

berylaite Says...

On October 22, 2008 at 4:33 pm

SOLAR ITS THE WAY

lcabral Says...

On October 22, 2008 at 4:42 pm

Completely irrelevant but geographically very important. Portugal is not in Spain. It is a independent and sovereign country and has been so for centuries.
Now for the energies…
Nuclear does not go well wit my skin. Not only produces waste, but oposity to what you might think, Resources are also very limited (yes we can still blow up earth 2 or 3 times with all the nuclear warheads built but It won’t last long in a nuclear power station supplying millions).
I do like the geothermical but I was disapointed to see not reference to the hidropower (sea and river). And no mention of wind farms in sea either(impact would le lower).

Ken Says...

On October 22, 2008 at 4:46 pm

Interesting, although I’d have to point out that although biomass does release CO2, it must first sequester,or store, that CO2 in the plant as it grows. Thus, biomass truly is “carbon neutral”, and the only net CO2 emissions come from any processing or fertilization of said biomass.

Somebody Says...

On October 22, 2008 at 7:55 pm

Cold fusion? Just an idea.

Great Says...

On October 22, 2008 at 8:02 pm

Great article!

Darren B. Says...

On October 22, 2008 at 8:03 pm

Thanks about the great article.

I am honest believer into Solar Power Satellites as I’ve been researching for this subject for a long time.
Regards

Thx Says...

On October 22, 2008 at 8:06 pm

Thanks for reminding of the energy alternatives…I highly recommend anyone to help spread this article by stumbling or rate it. Way to go Dave!

BigLedHead Says...

On October 22, 2008 at 8:08 pm

Overall very well done. Hydrogen would be great…as long as it is made from renewable resources mentioned in the article. Also, what about helium3? It is believed to be rather abundant on the moon and thus presents a somewhat workable solution (I know that its nuclear), but it is better than fossil fuels.

C. Jordan Says...

On October 22, 2008 at 9:20 pm

Interesting article, Dave and you put up some nice pictures to accompany it.
My favourite form of sustainable energy was your recycling of wigan warp

valli Says...

On October 22, 2008 at 11:51 pm

Great article with excellent photos.

Christian Archer Says...

On October 23, 2008 at 1:47 am

I am a huge fan of alternative energy, so I really enjoyed this. Not sure if someone else mentioned it, but there is also a technology that harnesses the energy produced by the Earth turning on its axis. I’ve also heard that a few large cities are putting pressure pads in their sidewalks so that electricity is produced by pedestrians walking over the surface. Keep up the good work!

Leo Reyes Says...

On October 23, 2008 at 2:08 am

Very timely article. These are the alternatives that we need today to counter the soaring cost of oil

Verniel Cutar Says...

On October 23, 2008 at 2:36 am

Great article, and very futuristic!

RJ Chamberlain Says...

On October 23, 2008 at 4:47 am

Wind is becoming a very economical and environmentally friendly way of energy generation. New Zealand is moving towards building more and more wind farms which I think is great. Other people see them as unsightly and blah blah blah. At the end of the day, it has to be better than nuclear. Cool piece

There’s an important disadvantage to each of these that was either omitted or glossed over: “costly” is another way of saying “Scarce.” Giant photovoltaic satellites in orbit would be expensive because the resources to build them, get them up there, and keep them working amid space junk and micrometeroid collisions might not even exist.

Likewise with terrestrial solar power: Solar thermal is better than photovoltaic in this respect, but it still takes a lot of that scarce energy to build those dishes, and also a lot of the rapidly-depleting metal left on Earth. It’s likely that we’d run out of metal before we matched our current energy consumption, let alone gained enough energy to allow a continuously growing economy.

Leaving out sci-fi and fantasy power sources like cold fusion, zero point energy, and dilithium crystals, every renewable power source has these problems. Any development in energy production has to be viewed in light of this–for instance, the totally sweet new solar cells that can capture almost 100% of solar energy use molybdenum and titanium; so depending on how much they need, the old-tech mostly wooden windmills made by the folks at otherpower.com might be a more useful energy source in the future.

Liane Schmidt Says...

On October 23, 2008 at 4:51 pm

Vote for Obama!

Liane Schmidt Says...

On October 23, 2008 at 4:53 pm

Vote for Obama!

Liane Schmidt Says...

On October 23, 2008 at 4:54 pm

Vote for Obama!

writealot Says...

On October 23, 2008 at 5:09 pm

I liked this article. Well thought out and interesting. I think we all should look to other sources and gather all the info we can about alternative energy sources. I especially liked the fact that it is easy to understand. I plan to have my 15 year old read this as he is doing a research paper on alternative energy sources and I believe it will help him a great deal. I do believe that the best chance, as far as helping to save the earth and having less pollutants, is solar power and we need to start working on this avenue right NOW! Although it will be costly we really don’t have any alternatives.

Yes, yes. Well done Mr. Cool, well done. . . . However, an article on theoretical energy source candidates would have made a much more intriguing and thought-provoking article. Honestly, the energy sources you so eloquently described have been chiseled out so many times it’s redundant.

Severely Demented Says...

On October 24, 2008 at 10:56 pm

Oh, Oh! I know, I know!

What we should do is give every overweight person in America a free liposuction, store the fat, and burn it to create energy.

Genius. Pure genius.

It promotes a healthier psych, society, and environment all in one great package.

Tyler Poole Says...

On October 25, 2008 at 2:23 am

Great article,
I have been thinking about a renewable energy source thats kinda like post #44. Converting people into some type of bio-fuel. After they die of natural cause’s of course! but still thats like 150,000 people worldwide EVERY day.
I can see that some people may have moral disagreements with this, but really its not like they need their bodies anymore.

bfsa Says...

On October 25, 2008 at 3:38 pm

Good stuff. Some other energy sources of the future:
1. Anti-gravity
2. Vacuum (black holes)
3. Water (instead of gasoline)

Finding new ways to create energy is only part of the problem though. We need to exploit better ways of using and conserving it.

There could be an endless number of nuclear fission, power plants on this planet and still be a need for energy.

I foresee a very toasty Earth in the near future.

nobert soloria bermosa Says...

On October 25, 2008 at 9:53 pm

nice post, deserves to be on the hot list,

Evis T Says...

On October 26, 2008 at 3:27 am

Nuclear as a solution to the energy gap while we get other sources online. As for what we should go for, it depends on the area. Try building tidal power in central Russia and see how far it gets you! Likewise, not everywhere has enough wind for turbines, although newer designs require less and less wind to function. Like so may issues, there’s no catch all solution here.

David Says...

On October 26, 2008 at 4:22 pm

I thought it was a good article but I do think hydrogen is something that should really be looked at. I think it is the one of the top ways to go.

Joe Kinison Says...

On October 27, 2008 at 10:48 pm

What about cow farts?

anon Says...

On October 29, 2008 at 12:12 pm

Tidal generators.

Mrinmoy Boruah Says...

On November 3, 2008 at 9:16 am

Biogas generation from starchy waste materials is a fast and cheap alternative energy. The CO2 cycle will be taken care of continuous plant cycle.

Optimal use of energy (saving energy waste) is another big energy source.

Nice article…. what about fusion though?
Not necessarily “cold fusion”, but any fusion? Waste product is water and, once the reaction can be stabilised, it releases far much energy than needs to be put into it…

Welcome to the amazing world of zero point energy.
Magnetic Power Generator creates amazingly F.R.E.E energy,
and does not require any external resource like wind or solar energy to function, creating energy by itself that will powers your home for F.R.E.E. Test show that a Magnetic Power Generator can produce 5 times the energy it uses. scientist estimate that once running it will continue to run about 400 years, almost a perpetual motion machine.

i encourage everyone to look into industrial hemp it makes almost anything that petroleum makes and more also benefits farmers. with hemp we wont have to change anything because we have all the resources to do it now and the coal plants to burn the biomass to make the electricity. (hemp contains no sulfur)

tomas Says...

On December 29, 2010 at 6:40 pm

u guys are nerds. so shut up andjust take wat u have

Eric Says...

On February 5, 2011 at 12:32 pm

no nuclear bc of the seeping toxins into environments no matter how deep in the mountains it is set